TTB axle shafts

[Captain Air Time]

Who manufactures and/or sells stronger axle shafts for the Dana 35 TTB? custom lengths?

 

[scottm]

Summers Bros, Currie, Gear 1 Industries, Yukon, and maybe Sandy Cone. Try to find something off-the-shelf at a 4wd supply first.

 

[jeff]

CTM also does custom axle splining. I talked to Jack (think his name was Jack) about a set of D44's for my F150 a year or so ago and then never went through with it. His U-Joints are legendary and I've heard good things about the axle shafts too.

Aloha

 

[Captain Air Time]

Summers Bros, Currie, Gear 1 Industries, Yukon, and maybe Sandy Cone. Try to find something off-the-shelf at a 4wd supply first.

So far, none of these list anything for the D35 anywhere. I even found crap for the D28, but nothing for the 35. Can't find any reference to 'Gear 1 Industries' anywhere. Sent a message to Summers Bros, we'll see what they say.

 

[Captain Air Time]

CTM also does custom axle splining. I talked to Jack (think his name was Jack) about a set of D44's for my F150 a year or so ago and then never went through with it. His U-Joints are legendary and I've heard good things about the axle shafts too.

Aloha

Splining isn't the issue, as most aftermarket stuff is just cut splines anyway. It's the slip joint/yoke that will be a weak link if nobody makes an upgraded (material) one.

I hear the F250 D50 TTB used a larger inner U-joint, with the same 31 spline slider. That may be an option, and have the rest cut from blanks. at 30* that poor joint starts to kick

 

[murphco]

i spoke to one of the curries at sema last year and they said they would do some if they had the specs.and as far as the slip yoke you can take the dana 50 slip yoke and have the last half inch or so cut off and cut another one down to add to it.if you put the 2 in a lathe and use an axle to line everything up and tig it it works great.the more contact area the better.and the dana 50 has a larger external clip u joint,i just dont remember what part # it is.i have one if you want it jeffro.the rough rider class 4 trucks had a longer slip yoke on them,it looked to be about 4" longer than the stock slip yoke but i have never found out what it came from or if they had it made.maybe someone like pbp would know.

 

[Captain Air Time]

Interesting idea, to extend the slip yoke.
If I don't find a source for high quality shafts, I might have to go with CV's and Joebuilt cut/through hardened 4340 shafts Do away with the PITA Ujoints and their flimsy yokes altogether.

 

[murphco]

Interesting idea, to extend the slip yoke.
If I don't find a source for high quality shafts, I might have to go with CV's and Joebuilt cut/through hardened 4340 shafts Do away with the PITA Ujoints and their flimsy yokes altogether.

well its worked for years and if your are talking about using the cv in place of the slip yoke axle on a ttb good luck.

 

[Captain Air Time]

well its worked for years and if your are talking about using the cv in place of the slip yoke axle on a ttb good luck.

what exactly has 'worked for years'? OEM shafts seem to lose a yoke every time I engage low range, and D44 hubs are nothing but problematic latey, between lack of sealing and mechanical damage from hanging out in the breeze. I can deal with that if I slow down on breaking shafts though...

 

[murphco]

what exactly has 'worked for years'? OEM shafts seem to lose a yoke every time I engage low range, and D44 hubs are nothing but problematic latey, between lack of sealing and mechanical damage from hanging out in the breeze. I can deal with that if I slow down on breaking shafts though...

everything in any of the axles i have built.we must not be as hard on parts as you seem to be.

 

[OffRoadGeorge]

CTM made ours. They also made us custom plugs to replace the crappy little warn hubs.

 

[Captain Air Time]

everything in any of the axles i have built.we must not be as hard on parts as you seem to be.

That is entirely believable I tend to break **BAN ME****BAN ME****BAN ME****BAN ME****BAN ME****BAN ME**. Keep in mind that this is not only a high speed stuation: I also crawl and snow-bash with it, and in this neck of the woods, that means LOTS of throttle in low range, usually at large steering angles. full clipped Spicer 5-760x joints seem to hold up the best, and with some better shafts (yokes) they might even be proof against 35's.
Doesn't stop me from wanting to experiment, but at least I could have one of my trucks set up with a basic, reliable front end. Hopefully nobody on THIS site will make a stupid comment like 'just put a Dana 60 under it, uh heh heh...'

No response whatsoever from Summer Bros. typical of web inquiries in this industry, unfortunatey.

 

[murphco]

yeah all the local guys that plow snow with a ttb truck or bronco buy axles from me a lot.one guy has had some made,he said he got them from yukon.i was going to get an axle shaft from a solid axle and have it resplined with a spline length of 5 inches.im doing a 44/35 ttb set up for a friend in an explorer that probably wont have more than 200hp so some of what im dealing with doesnt have a bunch of power behind it.seriously though what other options are out there,cv,cornay,birdfield,im not so confident on using some of them in this app.plus having a bunch of spares around kind of keeps me tethered to doing it that way.some of the options may work out im just saying for me the cost over what i have on the shelves is a hard sell.good luck and make sure to post up what route you go.

 

[Captain Air Time]

yeah all the local guys that plow snow with a ttb truck or bronco buy axles from me a lot.one guy has had some made,he said he got them from yukon.i was going to get an axle shaft from a solid axle and have it resplined with a spline length of 5 inches.im doing a 44/35 ttb set up for a friend in an explorer that probably wont have more than 200hp so some of what im dealing with doesnt have a bunch of power behind it.seriously though what other options are out there,cv,cornay,birdfield,im not so confident on using some of them in this app.plus having a bunch of spares around kind of keeps me tethered to doing it that way.some of the options may work out im just saying for me the cost over what i have on the shelves is a hard sell.good luck and make sure to post up what route you go.

The 44 knuckles are 100 times better than D35 crap, but in my local terrain, they take impact damage frequently becasue they are so long. I will be doing at least outer CVs and unit bearings to eliminate the snout on one experimental project, and for sure I'll post how it turns out. I happen to like the smoothness of CV's and the simplicity/compactness of unit bearings too, and on light weight vehicles, I don't anticipate any issues. The center joint is a big question mark though. U-joints have the strength edge straight on, but at large angles (only time I break) CV's have the upper hand, I feel, if only due to eliminating the jacking and lurching you get from UJs at big angles. I clearance my center joint to 30*, and that is just enough to get the job done with my current droop. more than that and i'll be landing on the rims anyway, so if I can make a CV handle that, then it should be golden. Don't know till you try, and I'm perfectly willing to. Keeps me out of trouble

 

[murphco]

for sure,i want to use the dodge unit bearing and half the stuff that pbp posted about cv's and build a 4x a arm set up.the cv's are a smoother operating system until they come apart just the same as u joints.with a small vehicle im worried about the axle length.i still think that a dana 44 ttb center section could be used with some new axles with drive plates on it.

 

[Captain Air Time]

for sure,i want to use the dodge unit bearing and half the stuff that pbp posted about cv's and build a 4x a arm set up.the cv's are a smoother operating system until they come apart just the same as u joints.with a small vehicle im worried about the axle length.i still think that a dana 44 ttb center section could be used with some new axles with drive plates on it.

I have no reason (yet) to use a D44 center section. The D35 is way WAY lighter and smaller (clearance, both ways). IF I start deleteing 27 spline inners on more than freak occasions, I will somehow materialize some 30 spline side gears for the ARB(doubt it wil be an issue with the TrueTrac in the 'sploder), and beef it up that way. The R&P seems to hold together just fine, so far. I haven't put any serious HP to it yet either, but I am hopeful Actually, in low range (where the breaking generally occurs) I won't be pushing much, if any boost, so power levels won't be unhealthy even after I get the air stuffers done

If the R&P start failing, I think it would be time to jump in to my A-arm project with both feet, instead of just wading around the edges

I'm also toying with quick adjust droop limiters that I can engage when I'm pokin' around in low range, but let loose for the high speed stuff.
THe TTB has so many options and good things going for it that I hate to abandon it for A-arms, but I'll keep playing around until I come up with a combination that meets my expectations. I may never get there, but that's OK too: I'm learing all sorts of things,
and I'M having fun

 

[murphco]

I have no reason (yet) to use a D44 center section. The D35 is way WAY lighter and smaller (clearance, both ways). IF I start deleteing 27 spline inners on more than freak occasions, I will somehow materialize some 30 spline side gears for the ARB(doubt it wil be an issue with the TrueTrac in the 'sploder), and beef it up that way. The R&P seems to hold together just fine, so far. I haven't put any serious HP to it yet either, but I am hopeful Actually, in low range (where the breaking generally occurs) I won't be pushing much, if any boost, so power levels won't be unhealthy even after I get the air stuffers done

If the R&P start failing, I think it would be time to jump in to my A-arm project with both feet, instead of just wading around the edges

I'm also toying with quick adjust droop limiters that I can engage when I'm pokin' around in low range, but let loose for the high speed stuff.
THe TTB has so many options and good things going for it that I hate to abandon it for A-arms, but I'll keep playing around until I come up with a combination that meets my expectations. I may never get there, but that's OK too: I'm learing all sorts of things,
and I'M having fun

i like the weight of the 35 too but the 44 had an early model with a 3 bolt flange axle on the pass side,it can be duplicated for the drivers side to make some type of supported bearing set up for the flanged axles,maybe.its just a thought at this point i have too many other obligations right now to work on my own stuff unless it breaks.

 

[Captain Air Time]

i like the weight of the 35 too but the 44 had an early model with a 3 bolt flange axle on the pass side,it can be duplicated for the drivers side to make some type of supported bearing set up for the flanged axles,maybe.its just a thought at this point i have too many other obligations right now to work on my own stuff unless it breaks.

I plan to create something similar on the 35. There is enough room there to press/tack/glue a retainer in each side with a carier bearing, without going cast iron. Having a machine shop at your disposal helps, of course Gotta do away with the internal C-clip, and the spring on the slip yoke is not my favorite. Functioning, but far from ideal. To ensure it remains seated, the spring pressure has to be quite high, which is bad for the outer seals, which is bad for the frequent submersion in water required here 8 months of the year to get to the good play areas.

So anyway, looks like Yukon or CTM for custom shafts? should try superior as well. I'll post when I get around to it, or offer thanks if someone beats me to it

 

[Tech Tim]

Any good axle builder can build you the shafts you are seeking, it may not be the price you want, but it can be done. If you just can't find anyone who can do it, give me a ring a and we can set you up.

One important note before you spend some big $$$ on heavier shafts: You are not breaking D35 parts at this time because you have other weak links. Once you upgrade shafts and stop breaking stuff outside the diff, you will be breaking stuff inside the diff. The D35 R&P doesn't have much going for it size wise and failed gears are par for the course once you get past shaft failure.